Manufacture of tile



% OMPOSlTlNS,

COATING 0R PLASTIC roe/2 Patented Nov. 22, 1927.

UNITED STATES VICTOR LEFEBUBE, OF HAMPSTEAD, LONDON, ENGLAND.

arms-across or run;

No drawing. Application filed March 4, 1927, Serial No. 172,919, and in This invention relates to processes for the manufacture of decorated tiles, and has for its object the manufacture of a decorative tile or sheet by coverin asbestos cement or 5 other rigid or semi-rigi s eets wit a ayer of coloured mottled or designed material in w ch the binding and rotectiveagent is either a silicatwr mixed silicates or free. silica, ora mixture of all of these, hereafter 1'0 referred to as silicate constituent, without employing in the process the very high tem-- peratures which are employed in the manufacture of the well-known ceramic tiles and slabs: or I- may manufacture a tile or slab without a s cial backin in a similar manner as hereinafter ex lamed. The tiles or slabs may be simple at tiles, or they may be corrugated or otherwise moulded.

In the manufacture of ceramic tiles and slabs, furnace temperatures reaching as high as 1000 C. and hi her are required, which render it practically impossible to obtain large sheets owing to the warpin and shrinkage, etc., wh1ch is inherent in t e use of. such temperatures with such materials.

Also, these firing methods at high temperature involve long periods of time, are rela- 'tively costly an render it diflicult if not impossible to manufacture economically quantities of specific types of tiles or It is known that certain silicates and certain oxides and salts exist in a form which 'may be called s u or last which form 4 isusually attri u their cofioidal, nature.

Such chemical compounds are the alkaline silicates silicic acid, a number of oxid es or hydrox'ihes, such as zinc oxide, iron oxide,

tin oxide ,tunggn oxide, E Home 801d 40 andcertam sa $110 as zinc chloride and ferric phosphate; many others are mentlon' inthe llterature.

An insoluble reaction product is obtained from the said silicate constituents py alkaline silicates, colloidal silicic aci and silica itself, preferably the amorphous'variety) with various oxides and salts, and either the silicate or the oxide and salts or both may be in the plastic form. In many ,50 of these cases the equilibrium of the alkaline silicate or silicic acid is destro ed, throwing out' silica. Inboth types 0 reaction an insoluble binding agent results consisting of the insoluble silicate or the free silica thrown out, or a mixture of both.

Iconducttlnschemicalreactionsaute t e fi eat Britain December I, 1925.

form insoluble silicate and/or silica in a hard shaped mass, and I may manufacture a decorative tile or slab without an rigid backing by sheetin or mouldin t e said 00 composition itself 0 a suflicient t 'ckness to give it sufficient mechanical strength, or I can join thinner sheets thereof to a rigid backin making a composite tile or slab. Thesa1d thinner sheets can be 'oined to one 5 face of the backing or to both aces so as to envelop it completely, or substantially so.

For example, syrupy or plastic sodium silicate is intimately mlxed with zinc ox o orm a plastic mass which can e s eete or shaped; This is heated to about. 150 C. for less than a uarter-of-an-hour and yields" a very hard co erent mass which perfectl resists the action of water, has a very high resistance to alkaline corrosive a ents, and a fairly high resistance to aci corrosive agents. At lower temperatures longer times are required to roduce the change which develops these adi'antageous properties. If fillers, such as silic asbesgzs, various inorganic and organic colours, are added to the plastic mass prior eating, the insoluble mass still results after heating being modified in properties according to the nature of the filler. Accordi to this invention, I em loy ewentially the silicate constituent, suc as a silicate and, on the other hand, the appropriate oxide or salt to form the insolu e reaction product, and I em 10y one or both of these constituents in the p astic form, so that prior to the actual reaction, I form a homogeneous mass containing the two or more. reactants and any fillers.- Such a mass is suitable for sheeting or shaping prior to the application of the necessary heat with or without pressure, which converts the relatively soluble unchangedmass into the insoluble changed mass. Further I operate at temperatures lower than 350 C.

In the present ap lication I claim-the process and product w en the silicate constitucuts are in the plastic form and combined with oxides and salts. The said oxides or salts may, if desired, also be plastic. I do not claim in this specification the process and products when the oxide or saltelement is plastic and the silicate constituent not plastic. I

Apart from the .use of such fillers as colours for decoration and fibrous asbestos for strength in accordance with the practice ofthemouldiaz rtlempi twospecig CIOS S eferen'cg Examiner types of fillers for two special purposes. First, in order to combine with any uncombined water remaining inthe finished mass, I may add chemicals capable of combining with or taking up such water, for example, Portlang ggmegtor zinc or m nesium chlorl e in e presence of their res ectlve oxides. Secondly, to neutralize any unlixed alkali such as might be present in a mix containing alkaline silicate and zinc oxide, I add a body which I have found binds the free alkali at the temperature used, such as calcium fluoride, ma or 0x1 e, or use 11 em zinc or ma nium slllcofluorlde, or the double salt.

e o owin are further examples of the manner in whic my invention is carried out:

Example L :5 suitable mixing 'mach iiie, suchas'afloughmill. These are worked up to'give a plastic mass which can be sheeted between calender rolls.- This is a most important application of the plastic mass. During the milling and so sheeting process, difierent markings imitating, for example, natural stone, can be introduced by employing difl'erent plastic masses and partially mixing them. The calendered sheet is then cut out to the requisite size and a5 pressed on to a rigid backing, such as asbestos cement, between heated latens. To ensure the most perfect adhesion between the decorative sheet and the ri 'd backing it is advisable to em 10y a junction which can be of two types. ,irst, it can be a mixture of sodium silicate and zinc oxide, with fillers 'such a's'sand painted' "6r" "sprayed on to the asbestos cement, or secondly, a mixture of nthetic and mineral fillers similarly a l ed. After a suit-able perlodat a suit- I able temperature, which in the above case would be from ten to fifteen minutes at about 150 0., the sheet would be removed from the press as a very strong, hard, smooth-surfaced, resistant composlte layer.

E wample II. I can employ the plastic ingredient as a thinner syrup adding the necessary reagent Example III.

A composition can be applied to the abesesium oxide, aluminum hydroxide,

tos cement or other rigid layer by using the plastic ingredient in a state sufiiciently dry so that it is a powder at low temperatures, such as room temperatures, although it is more plastic at hi her temperatures. This powder is intimate y mixed with the necessary reagents and fillers and moulded in a press on to the surface of the asbestos cement or other rigid backing. The mixture flows together in the same manner as mouldipg powders of the synthetic resin type glving tnssamet pe of composite layer as 1n the two above-mentioned processes. A modifi-' cation of this third method is to add the reagents and the filling materials to the plastic constituent before drying it to the powder stage. The mass thus mixed in the more fluid state is dried at a low temperature to the same slim before mentioned, that is, sufiiciently to produce a dry powder at room temperatures but not sufficiently to carry out the reaction. This powder is then applied as above.

The following are examples of mixtures yielding the plastic mass and the junction materials according to this invention:

Plastic mass. Alkaline silicate 12 lbs.

Zinc oxide 8 lbs. Magnesium oxide 1 lb. 8 ozs. Asbestos 5 lbs. Red oxide 1 lb.

Alkaline silicate 12 lbs. Zinc oxide 8 lbs Silica 4 lbs. Water 6 lbs.

. Szntlwtic resi/r m' nation. Phenol formaldehyde resin 5 lbs.

.Zinc oxide 5 lbs. Silica 2 lbs. Methylated spirits 1 gallon.

By means of this invention I produce upon asbestos cement or other rigid backing or without such backing a decorative resistant layer in which the main binding and protectlve agent is a silicate or silica or both, which has a very smooth surface with the same reslstance as the better grade contructional and decorative stones and at a very much lower cost of production.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l 1. A tile produced at temperatures below 350 C. from a silicate constituent"with fillers in the plastic form, and an oxide, in combination with a backing of asbestos cement, to which the tile is secured by a Lommg agent between the tile. and the acking.

2. A tile produced at temperatures below. 359 C. rom a silicate constituent with 06. COMPOSl TIONS,

COATING 0R PLASTlC fillers in the plastic form, and an oxide, in forming a plastic mass thereof, incorporat- 10 combination with a backing of asbestos ing an oxide therein, providing a. backing of cement, to which the tile is secured by a asbestos, cement, uniting the backing to the joining agentbetween the tile and the back tile constituents by means of a joining agent 5 ing, said joining agent being constituted by applied between the tile and the backing,

a mixture of synthetic resin and mineral and baking the whole at temperatures below 15 filler. 350 C.

3. A method of producinng tile which In testimony whereof,Iaflix my signature.

comprises mixing a silicate with fillers, and VICTOR LEFEBURE.

Examiner 

